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Kat's Review of The One They Couldn't Bury by Phil Martin (Amy Walker #3)

Synopsis: With her life expectancy ticking close to zero, Amy Walker’s journey to discover the life she was stolen from has been replaced by a struggle to just keep breathing. Vitali knows Chechnya will provide their next clue but with Amy bleeding heavily she may not even last that long. As they journey across the vast wastelands of Russia the couple have become the number one target for a criminal brotherhood stretching from London to Chechnya and everywhere in-between. The bounty on her head has never been so high but the Moscow Police aren’t after a payday; they just need her dead at any cost. Two death squads are despatched but, motivated by the money, will the gangs get to them first?

Superintendent Needham’s obsession with Walker sees the girl’s origins become the focus of New Scotland Yard. If her instinct is right, Walker’s truth is far darker than she could have ever imagined. But solving crime is only part of Needham’s motivation. What she wants to uncover has the potential to finish off Amy Walker more brutally than any gang member ever could. Needham is convinced that three unsolved cases, linked to dead, London crime lord Vyacheslav Khasbulatov ultimately hold the key to unlocking her dark secrets. She is convinced too that Child No. 3 is on a vigilante quest to murder anyone connected to her abduction, twenty three years ago.

As Amy’s plight moves into ever darker territory, Needham is convinced her secrets lie closer to home. Both routes to Amy’s past are set to collide with each other as well as with the London, Russian and Chechen underworlds.

My Review: Please note if you intend to read the first two books, please don’t read my review as there will inevitably be spoilers in it, I finished the second book in the trilogy and had to continue on with the third just to find out what happens to Amy Walker. The only thing that I noticed is that unless you have read the first two books, it may not be that easy to start in with the third in the series. The only reason I say this is that somebody may well pick this up as a one off book to read, and I feel it might be a little difficult to get into the story. Thankfully, I didn’t have that problem and was following on from book 2.

The book starts off at a breakneck speed as Amy’s life is on the edge at the very start of the book. With Vitali at her side, they are making a perilously dangerous journey through Russia to answer the questions Amy has about where she came from. It’s a tense few chapters and I found myself reading quicker that I usually do. There is a lot of action, even as the pair reach what should be relatively safer ground. Pretty soon, they both realise that their actions has angered what seems like every bent politician, Underworld member and gangster in the face of the planet.

Sadly, me reading the book was put on hold doe to work but a couple of days later I finally got time during a lunch hour and relished the thought of more reading this action packed book. Sadly, I soon realised that reading the book and eating at the same time was not recommended. The book contains some highly graphic, and particularly violent scenes which actually put me off my lunch! I’m not particularly that squeamish, but Phil Martin has done a Stellar job in recreating some particularly horrendous torture scenes (so be warned it may not be for everybody).

This story and the plot, becomes more elaborate as time goes on. Ordinarily I may have said that it stretched to the unbelievable, but for some reason in this book it worked! I found myself becoming toe-curlingly impatient and nervous about the pairs journey and what would happen. There are certainly a lot of plot twists and numerous threads to the story but it kept my interest throughout; literally from the first page to the last. This was a book I thoroughly enjoyed (even though I didn’t particularly like the ending with one particular character) and if you want something very fast paced, then read this trilogy in order. There was also a noticeable difference between the first book and this current one. This latest one was brilliant and certainly hit the spot. First Class read Mr Martin!